One of the movies I am most excited about seeing this upcoming movie season is New Line’s version of Jesus’ birth, “The Nativity Story.” And if you are as interested as I am in how Hollywood is going to treat the Christmas story this time around, well, the official movie trailer is available online.

While it is true I scoffed ever-so-slightly when I heard New Line was going to develop the project, all of my concerns about this story–that it wouldn’t be given the respect and artistic merit worthy of the big screen–were assuaged when I heard that teen actress Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider”) had been cast as Mary and that Mike Rich, the screenwriter, is a Christian.

If all of my LA/Hollywood insider friends are correct with their information, the movie will be less of a sappy Hallmark greeting card and more of a glimpse at the very human emotions Mary and Joseph felt as they embarked on their journey to Bethlehem. The movie will trace the life of Mary and Joseph prior to the birth of Christ and follow the family through Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt after King Herod’s mandate to kill baby boys under the age of two.

So while Hollywood has been somewhat erratic in its attempts to tap into the market that made “Passion of the Christ” a blockbuster, everything I am hearing and reading confirms that this time Hollywood has a hit–one most Christians won’t want to miss. (Click here to see the trailer.)